Ends and Beginnings
by SkylarkSkies
Summary: A set of three Solangelo vignettes set approximately 2, 3 and 5 years after BoO. My first attempt at Percy Jackson universe fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

Ends and Beginnings

Nico felt the demigod die. He sighed. Will would be blaming himself for not being able to save him. A crowd of legionnaires milled around the entrance to the infirmary, waiting hopefully for good news. There wouldn't be any.

Nico wasn't good at this sort of thing, but he couldn't bear the thought of his friend having to shoulder this burden again.

Gods, Will shouldn't even be here. He should be at his college classes right now in New Rome, not here at the infirmary. But when a friendly-fire incident during war games had resulted in multiple casualties, it had been all hands on deck. And Will had answered the call. Of course he had. You couldn't keep him away when someone was hurt.

Nico walked to the centurion who was talking quietly with the other legionnaires. She looked up at Nico, and the expression on her face fell. "I'm sorry," he said. "He's gone."

One of the legionnaires sobbed. Another shoved Nico's shoulder angrily. "You don't know that. You can't know that."

Nico just looked at him. The legionnaire backed away nervously - suddenly realizing that picking a fight with a son of Hades wasn't a good idea.

Nico sighed. He turned back to the centurion. "I really am sorry."

The centurion nodded sharply, her eyes brimming with tears. "Thank you, son of Pluto, for letting us know."

Nico wanted to put a hand on her shoulder, but decided the touch might not be appreciated, coming from a son of Hades.

Nico turned and climbed the steps of the infirmary. He stepped aside for a medic rushing down the main hall with more bandages. A glance in the door of the main ward revealed several legionnaires being treated for a variety of injuries. But all were conscious and he could sense that none were near death. These were the junior medics. The senior ones were still on the battlefield dealing with the rest of the injured. He had felt at least two others die in the initial blast, then the third just now. He walked further down the hall, to the side chamber where Will was. A junior medic was exiting the room, tears streaming down her face. A young demigod lay on a gurney, a gaping wound in his chest, his eyes closed.

Will had removed his bloody gloves and scrubs, and sat on a bench at the side of the room, his head in his hands.

Nico sat down tentatively next to him. Somehow, he found the courage to put his arm across Will's shoulders. Will glanced up, acknowledging him with a grimace. But to Nico's surprise he didn't pull away from the embrace. Instead he seemed to settle into it, resting his hand on Nico's free hand.

After a moment, Will stirred. "I have to go tell his friends."

Nico shook his head. "No, I told them already."

"How?" said Will, then stopped himself. "Oh, right. Thanks."

Will glanced at the body. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"No," said Nico. "The dead don't bother me. Unless you do?"

"No," said Will. "No, I just need a moment."

Nico fought the urge to stroke Will's hand, to pull him into a closer embrace. _Just what a grieving guy needs_ , Nico thought, _getting groped by a son of Hades_. The thought made his body tense.

Will, being Will, noticed his tension. He turned to look at Nico with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Nico said, starting to pull away.

Will gave him a disbelieving look. "You can tell me."

"I just, well, I didn't want you to think I was hitting on you." Nico looked away, "You know, being gay an all." Nico didn't actually know if Will knew that, but he assumed that word had gotten around Camp Half Blood before Will had left for college.

"Why not?" Will asked curiously. "You don't find me attractive?"

Nico choked. "No. I mean, yes. I mean, of course, I find you attractive. Who wouldn't? I just . . ." Nico couldn't finish.

Will looked amused. "Nico di Angelo. I don't think I've ever seen you flustered before."

Nico grimaced. "Yeah. Well. I'm not good at talking about, you know, this sort of thing."

"What sort of thing? Sexual attraction?"

Nico nodded, mutely. Oh gods. Will was going to make Nico talk about this. A conversation with Will about the ins and outs of sexual attraction was not what he was looking for. Trust Will to zero in on any discomfort with biological realities and then to try to dispel it with a frank talk, doctor-to-patient.

"Have you ever told someone you were attracted to them?" Now it was Will who had draped his arm over Nico's shoulders.

Nico shook his head, not able to meet Will's eyes.

"How are you going to ever meet anybody if you won't talk about your feelings?"

Nico shrugged. "It's not like I can go around asking people if they are gay."

"Why not?"

Nico looked at Will in surprise. "Because it sounds like a good way to get punched, that's why."

"Who's going to punch you? You think Percy would punch you for asking? Or Jason? Or Frank?"

"They're not gay," Nico grumbled.

"That's not the point. The point is no one is going to punch you for asking. Do you think I'd punch you?"

"No."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So ask me. We're friends, right? It's okay to ask."

Nico felt a knot of hope forming in his chest. "Okay. Will, are you gay?"

"No, Nico, I'm not," Will replied matter-of-factly.

Disappointment exploded, unexpected and devastating in Nico's gut. _Idiot. Of course he's not. You're a fool_.

"I'm bi," Will added.

"I'm sorry," Nico asked, confused. "Bi what?"

"Bi-sexual," Will said. "Sexually attracted to men and women."

Nico sat stunned for a moment. "I don't get it," Nico said. "If you're attracted to women why would you want to be with a man?"

Will snorted. "Why should I take a pass on a great guy - if one comes along - just because I might meet a woman someday that I liked? That makes no sense."

Nico shook his head again. "That's not what anyone would have thought when I was growing up."

"Well, welcome to the 21st century, Nico." Nico braced himself, and looked into Will's bright blue eyes. He searched for any trace of revulsion or disgust, but only saw humor, and acceptance. It was almost more than he could take.

Will frowned for a moment, as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Nico?"

"What?"

"Would you mind if I kissed you?"

For a moment Nico couldn't breathe. "No," he gasped.

Will leaned in and kissed him. Nico thought he might die of joy.

Will pulled back and considered him for a moment. "How old are you, Nico? Seventeen?"

"Try eighty."

"Oh, yeah. Right. Well that's alright then." Will's face lit in a sunny smile. "Have dinner with me?"

"It's a date," Nico said, breathless.


	2. Chapter 2

Blood and Bone

The sword went flying out of his hand again, sliding away on the sand floor of the arena. Will clutched his bruised hand to his chest and hung his head.

"What was that?" Nico growled. "What are you doing? Fight!" Will sensed that the frustration that had been simmering in Nico for the last hour had finally come to a boil.

"I can't," Will said. "I lost my weapon. Again. I told you! I'm a healer, not a fighter. I can't do this."

Other legionnaires in the Roman training arena glanced at them curiously, but continued their sparring.

"You can't? You _can't_? You mean you won't. There's a big difference."

"I'm trying. Don't you think I've tried? I've tried to be fighter my whole life! I don't have the gift. I'll never be able to beat you. Not if I trained for a thousand years."

"Beat me? Is that what you think I'm trying to teach you? Do you think this is a game? A game of . . . of chess or something?" Nico was spitting with rage. His voice went cold.

"This is about survival. Not glory. Not laurels. Not heroism. Survival."

Will glared at him, still clutching his hand.

"Are you angry at me, Will?" Nico's voice was like ice.

Will dropped his hands and held Nico's gaze. "Yes."

"Are you afraid of me?" Nico's voice was an arctic wind, stinging Will's soul.

"No," Will admitted.

"Are you sure?" Nico asked raising his weapon. "Are you sure?" he asked again. "Because you should be. You should be afraid of me."

With a sickening crack, fissures formed in the floor behind Nico and skeletons in battle gear climbed out.

Will's eyes widened in horror for a moment, then he scrambled for his fallen sword. All around, them legionnaires stopped their sparring, their horror a mirror of Will's. Several turned to fight the skeletons arrayed at Nico's back. Frank Zhang stopped what he was doing at the edge of the arena. He walked towards the fight, concerned, but didn't unsheathe his weapon. He waived the legionnaires back, giving them a stand-down signal. The skeletons stood at the ready. Unmoving.

"So I'll ask you again. Are you angry?"

Will held his sword at the ready, his eyes full of bewilderment and hurt. "Yes," he said again.

"Are you scared?"

Will glanced at the legionnaires watching silently and a tear fell from one eye. "Yes." He was visibly trembling.

"Good." Nico said. "Take your rage, take your fear, channel it. Fight me." Nico swept in like lightning with a vicious swing of his sword." Will parried desperately, blocking the blow, but only barely. He took up a defensive position, eyeing Nico warily.

"Do you think you get to stop fighting just because you're crying?" Nico taunted. "Do you know how many battles I've fought with tears in my eyes? Don't you think I wept in Tartarus, wept tears of fire with every step. Do you think I ever stopped? Do you think I ever gave up?"

"No," Will rasped.

"That's right," Nico said with another brutal swing. "Do you know how many times over I'd be dead if I gave up in the face of overwhelming odds? If I'd given up when there was no way I could possibly win?"

Will just stared at him as he panted for breath.

Nico turned, his face a mask of fury and mowed down the skeletons behind him. The clatter of Stygian Iron breaking bone was deafening. The soft thunk of bone hitting sand was the sound of many pins dropping in the utterly silent arena.

Nico turned back and brought his sword up. "Again," he said. And moved in for the attack.

This time Will fought. He really fought. His rage and fear were like a tangible thing, a wild animal trying to claw it's way out of his belly. He swung his sword over and over as hard as he could. Nico parried easily. Frustration and fury filled his mind and he refused to give up. Nico found an opening and knocked the sword out of his hand with the flat of his blade, yet again.

The sword flew on the sand. Will's hand exploded with pain, and started throbbing. Will knew exactly which bones in his hand were fractured.

But this time he didn't stop. He dived into a roll, catching a handful of sand from the arena floor with his good hand and flinging it with uncanny accuracy into Nico's eyes, timed precisely to his blink pattern. By the time Nico cleared the sand Will was on his feet again, sword at the ready, ignoring the pain shooting through his damaged hand.

This time Will really looked at Nico. He saw exactly how he slightly favored his right foot, the result of an in old injury. He imagined exactly the cut that would be required to sever Nico's sword arm from his torso. A fast, clean amputation cutting the sinew and muscle and severing the bones. He feinted in precisely the right way to capitalize on Nico's weakness and then swept in for a surgical strike.

This time, Nico barely parried in time. The gash was hard to see through Nico's black t-shirt, but Will knew exactly how deep the cut in Nico's shoulder was - slicing skin and subcutaneous fat, but only nicking the muscle. It would need at least seven stitches.

Surprisingly, the wound seemed to calm Nico. He stepped back and eyed Will. "Better," he said. "Much better."

"Why?" The words emerged like they had been ripped from Will's chest. "Why are you doing this?"

Nico held his gaze for a moment. When he spoke, his deep voice was filled with resignation. "I've been to the underworld, Will. Many times. Don't you think I know?" His voice began a slow crescendo. "Don't you think I know _exactly_ what it will be like when the light and the love and laughter have gone out of your eyes forever? When you don't even know who I am anymore? Don't you think I know?" he shouted.

"I would walk through Tartarurus - again - to protect you. And you just give up. Because you don't think you're good enough? Because this is some sort of game to you? Because . . . because I don't even know why." He threw his sword to the floor in disgust, and covered his face with his hands.

The legionnaires all around them could have been marble statues. The silence was deafening.

"I just want you to care about your survival half as much as I do." Nico turned his back on Will and slowly picked up his sword."

Frank Zhang stepped forward. "Hold," he ordered, and Will let the tip of his sword drop to the floor. Zhang looked around at the staring legionnaire's. "You've had a valuable lesson today on the importance of perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds, and in facing fear. Training for the day is over. Think about what you've learned." Frank extended his arm to Will in a Roman salute and then to Nico.

With a chagrined glance at Frank, Nico sheathed his sword and started to walk out of the arena. He never looked at Will. The other legionnaires began to move again, watching Nico leave warily.

Will stood, sword dangling from his hand, a stunned look on his face. Frank gently took the sword from him. "Are you alright?"

Will shook his head. "Hairline fractures of two of the metacarpal bones. But otherwise I'm OK."

"You should have a medic look at that," Frank offered sardonically.

Will snorted. "Yeah. I'll see what I can do."

"Go after him," Frank said.

Will stared at him questioningly.

"You know you'll be sorry if you don't. He needs you."

Will nodded, and began jogging towards the exit, his undamaged hand pressing the broken one to his chest for stabilization.

Nico was several yards away, walking head down.

"Nico!" he called.

Nico stopped, but didn't turn or even look up.

"Nico." Will stepped in front of him, standing as close as he dared.

"Don't worry," Nico said, still staring at the ground. "I won't bother you any more."

"What? What in the name of thundering Zeus are you talking about?"

"I'll understand if after all that you're done being my boyfriend."

Will stared at him. Slowly his head began to shake. "I'm sorry, but as your doctor I'm afraid I have to tell you that you are suffering from the worst case of nobility and heroic self-sacrifice that I've ever encountered."

Nico met his eyes, ruefully. "Do you think it's terminal?

"Almost certainly." Will placed his undamaged hand on Nico's neck. "Don't ever do that again."

"What? The skeletons? I won't."

"No, not the skeletons, you idiot. I don't care about that. Don't you ever say you'd walk through Tartarus for me. Swear to me, right now, that you will never vow to walk through Tartarus for me. I've slept with you at night. I know how the memories of that place still hurt you. I won't have it. Swear it to me now."

One side of Nico's mouth twisted. "Fine. I swear on the river Styx that I will never vow to walk through Tartarus for you." Nico's face set in a stubborn expression. "But you know that's not the same as a promise that I wouldn't, if it came to it."

Will shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?" he said. "You're impossible."

"Love me anyway?" Nico asked.

"Well, sure. That goes without saying." Will winced as he rested his broken hand on Nico's other shoulder.

"You hurt your hand."

"Technically, you hurt it. And it's only a couple of stress fractures, nothing major."

"Do you want me to bandage it for you?" Nico asked.

"Hades, no." Will laughed. "I want it to heal right. I'll splint it myself. And then I can practice my left-handed stitching technique on that cut of yours."

"Technically, it was your cut." Nico smiled faintly. "Good work, by the way. You almost took my arm off. I'm proud of you."

"I had a good teacher."

Two legionnaires saluted them as they passed them on the road.

"I think that was for you," Will said.

"Not likely. It was for you."

"We'll have to agree to disagree."


	3. Chapter 3

Patching Things Up

The wound had looked much worse than it actually was. Every summer a few campers ended up shooting someone with a spectacularly off-target shot. Fortunately, they usually hit an arm or a foot. Nothing too major.

This year Camp Half blood had made it to just past mid-summer with no archery mishaps at all. And then this. This shot had looked scary-bad. The arrow had pierced the torso of the young demigod, entering just below the clavicle, nicking the right lung then and exiting just below the scapula. The wounded son of Hermes had been coughing up impressive amounts of blood when the camp medic had arrived.

Which is why they had sent their fastest runner to the other side of Half-Blood Hill to get the doctor in New Athens. Well, the closest thing to a doctor that New Athens had, anyway. New Athens was only a small village at the moment, but it was growing. It would probably never rival New Rome, but lots of Greek demigods had seen the appeal of having a relatively safe place to live in the company of other demigods.

So Will Solace was what passed for the town doctor, having just finished his second year of med school at Columbia. Next summer he'd be off to his residency in the mortal world. He had a lot of innovations to contribute to mortal medicine someday. Once he'd paid his dues, of course. He just had to live that long.

So far, he'd managed to avoid attacks from random monsters during his time in the city. Once he had start thinking of his dagger as a large scalpel his knife attacks had gotten significantly more effective. But making that work required a close-in approach, which was always chancy. He lacked speed, and a killer instinct.

Percy had clued him in that having a roommate that reeked of humanity would help. So his roommate was an obnoxious, smelly jerk that most of the time Will wanted to punch. Usually, it took a lot to make Will really dislike someone, but this guy had the chops. Still, having to worry that a monster was going to kill you in your sleep was even more irritating. Especially when it was touch and go if you would actually survive the attack.

Having a demigod roommate and companion who could actually kick monster butt would be much preferable. But so far that hadn't worked out too well.

So he had spent the summer in New Athens, reading medical journals and getting his residency applications in order. Until this.

Will could see that the arrow had managed to avoid hitting any arteries or major organs - other than the nicked lung. So once Will removed the arrow, administered a judicious dose of ambrosia and antibiotics, and bandaged the entry and exit wound, an order that the camper be transported to the infirmary for a few days of rest and observation was all that was needed.

Cleaning up, Will found himself with a small gathering of admiring campers. Miles, a dark-haired, first-year camper from the Athena cabin was the most earnest. He was the one that had fired the nearly-fatal shot.

"Thank the Gods you came so quickly. I know it was a terrible shot, but I don't understand what Finn was doing in that part of the range in the first place." Miles looked to his two companions for support. "He shouldn't have been there, right?"

"He's a Hermes kid, of course he's skulking around where he shouldn't be. Somebody probably dared him to steal the target between shots. Right, Will?" Lily batted her eyelashes at Will as she turned to him for confirmation.

Will surmised that Lily had a bit of a crush on him. Either that or her siblings in the Aphrodite cabin had dared her to try to seduce him. Not that she wasn't very pretty, charming and oh-so fashionable. The Aphrodite kids usually were. And at seventeen she was almost old enough to make hitting on a twenty-three-year old seem not completely inappropriate. But Will was finding her overtures more amusing than interesting.

The red-headed kid next to Miles elbowed him in the ribs jovially. "I guess you better stick to sword fighting, Miles." Jake was a child of Dionysus, but he and Miles were clearly buddies. Now that things had turned out alright, he was ready to make a joke out of the whole thing. Maybe throw a party to celebrate how lucky they had been that the injury wasn't worse. Because Dionysus kids thought everything was an excuse for a party.

"I'm not so sure sword training will be an improvement," said Miles. "I hear the last half of the summer the sword-fighting instructor might be Nico di Angelo. The child of Hades." Miles whispered that last bit.

"Nico di Angelo is coming back? Where did you hear that?" Lily pressed quickly. If there was anything Aphrodite kids liked better than fashionable clothes, that would be juicy gossip.

"I overheard Chiron talking to the head counselor of the Ares cabin. They've been complaining that this year's instruction hasn't been rigorous enough."

"Seemed plenty rigorous to me," grumbled Jake.

"Well, that will be scary," Lily said, wringing her hands in mock terror. "I hear he can raise zombies and skeletons and ghosts, even kill a person with a thought." Now both Jake and Miles were starting to look genuinely concerned. They looked to Will for reassurance.

"Do you know him, Will? Does he really do all that stuff?" Miles asked, looking almost as panicked as he had been when Will first arrived on the scene.

"Oh, yes. Constantly. For no reason at all." Will intoned seriously, as he knelt to put away some bandages. "Zombies and skeletons everywhere. Used to be you couldn't get to the latrine at night without battling three or four. But it was even worse when Percy Jackson and Jason Grace were here too. The like, random lightning strikes, tsunamis and hurricanes and stuff made campfire sing-alongs a real downer."

The color drained from the boys faces. There was a moment of silence.

"You're teasing us," Jake concluded finally.

"You think?" Will replied, still bent over his bag. Will stood again and brushed back a lock of golden hair.

Lily scowled adorably at Will - a facial expression only a child of Aphrodite could pull off. _How do they do that?_ Will thought. No wonder the other Apollo kids were always writing poetry about the Aphrodite kids - which worked out, he guessed, since the Aphrodite kids were the only ones outside the Apollo cabin who appreciated good poetry. As long as it was love poetry, anyway. And especially when it was about them.

Lily hadn't given up on tweaking the boys, though. She leaned in and offered conspiriatoriallly, "Still, I can't imagine sword training with him. Just knowing that he can kill you with a look, that he's even been to Tarta . . ."

"Hold up," Will interrupted, giving Lily an annoyed talk-to-the-hand gesture. His attention was suddenly riveted on a dark figure approaching from the other side of the archery field.

A tall handsome young man was walking toward them intently. He had neatly trimmed black hair, and a slightly devilish-looking goatee. He wore a short black overcoat over a black tee-shirt and black jeans. A grey sword hung from his belt. A silver belt-buckle and ring stood out as his only ornaments.

He walked up to Will, stopping so close that he seemed to be trying to pick a fight. The campers all instinctively took a step back. Will held his gaze without flinching.

"So. Di Angelo. You're back," Will said, neutrally. "Staying long?"

"Yeah," said the man, his voice an unexpectedly deep bass. "I finally helped Reyna track down the last of the death spirits. If the Amazons try to corner the market on dark-magic supplies again I'll let Reyna deal with her sister's screw up on her own."

Will blinked. "You're sure. You're really back. For good."

"I'm really back," the dark man replied firmly.

"Good," said Will as he pulled him in for a long kiss. After a long moment, they parted. "I missed you." Will said sternly.

Nico shook his head. "You missed having a son of Hades around. . . Really, Solace. There is something very wrong with you." This time it was Nico that leaned in for a kiss. He sighed softly when he finally pulled away. "And I thank the Gods for it every day."

"Hmm." Will's expression was dubious. He ran a finger along Nico's chin. "What's with the goatee?"

"I'm trying it out. What do you think?"

Will considered. "I'll let you know. . . Later"

Nico gave him an amused look and stepped back. "I've got to check in with Chiron. Dinner at your place?" he asked.

"I don't know about that." Will folded his arms and looked severe. "You think you can disappear for months, then show up with no warning at all and instantly be back in my good graces? What kind of guy do you take me for?"

"I'll read to you from the book of poetry I got you."

Will beamed. "It's a date."

Nico di Angelo looked at the three campers. "And I guess I'll be seeing all of you in weapons training. Be ready," he warned as he turned to walk away.

Jake looked like he was going to faint. Miles managed a "yes-sir" that came out more like a squeak. Lily looked stunned, and a little flustered.

With folded arms and a bemused smile, Will watched the son of Hades walk away. Without breaking stride, Nico called back over his shoulder, "And by the way, tell that disgusting roommate of yours he needs a new place to stay next semester. I am _not_ living with him."

Will laughed. "Yes, sir," he called loudly, while offering a mock salute.

"I'll see you campers later." Will quickly gathered his medical bag. "Have fun in weapons training," he said as he slung the bag over his shoulder. "And try not to put any more arrows in each other," he called back as he jogged away, "I might be busy next time."


End file.
